Habitat use and population dynamics of the Azure-Winged Magpie ...

logging set up a makeshift camp ca. 3km upstream (pers. obs.). The resident ranger and family
have a herd of horses and cows (about 20 individuals), which roam and graze freely within ca. 10
km radius around the station in the Khonin Nuga valley.
Climate in the West Khentii region is continental, with temperatures between -23°C and -30°C in
January, and 12 - 18°C in July (Dulamsuren et al., 2005), although it does exceed 30°C on some
days (pers. obs.). Annual precipitation is around 250-260 mm (Dulamsuren et al., 2008), with
most falling in summer, during July and August. Frost occurs around 300 days per year and
permafrost is a characteristic feature of the soils in the region (Tsedendash 1995, in Dulamsuren
et al., 2005).
This region is where the Siberian dark and light taiga borders the Mongolian-Daurian mountain
forest steppe. In higher altitudes, the landscape is a mosaic of dark and light taiga species such as
Picea obovata, Abies sibirica, Pinus sibirica, Betula platyphylla, Larix siberica, and montane
meadow steppe which consists of Festuca lenensis, Pulsatilla ambigua, and Artemisia frigida
species in the water-limited southern slopes. In the river valley and floodplains, common species
include shrubs such as Betula fusca, Rosa acicularis, Padus asiatica, Crataegus sanguine, Salix
spp. and floodplain meadow vegetation such as Carex spp. (Dulamsuren et al., 2005).
My study sites were in the immediate vicinity of the field station (ca. 2 km radius), covering the
river valley, floodplains and only occasionally the southern slopes of the hills northwest of the
field station (Fig. 2.3). The sites were not more than 2 km from the Eroo River. The habitats of
my study area are mainly open riparian woodland with dense understory shrub layers and
grasslands with mixed flowers, herbs and shrub species (classifications according to Dulamsuren
et al., 2005). My search area was on both sides of the Eroo River, delineated downriver at Kassel
field station 3 and the meadows up to 1km south and southeast of it, and upriver at the delta where
the Sharlan and Khong Rivers meet (Fig. 2.4).
3 Kassel field station belongs to the Kassel University, Germany. The field station has not been used regularly since
2006 (M Muehlenberg pers. comm., 2011)
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